keep
quiet."
********************
Another hour and a half passed before
Aiden's arrival. My brain spent the whole time walking circles,
crossing over the same questions with no answers. Could Pamela be
lying? Why would anyone lie about adultery, especially in a smaller
town like ours?
What if she was only lying about them
having sex after my weekend with Aiden? Could she just be doing
this because he told her it was over? Still, that meant he had sex
with a married woman who was an employee, and that wasn't the Aiden
I knew.
By the time he arrived, I could barely
walk. I had a boulder, sharp and heavy, in my stomach and another
in my throat. I hadn't cried yet, but that was only a matter of
time. I was still too frozen to cry. When I thawed, there would be
a flood.
I crossed the lawn to where Aiden
waited next to my parked car. I kept my eyes on the ground, trying
to figure out how to keep my mouth shut so I wouldn't break the
promise I had made to my father.
When I finally looked up, the sight of
Aiden broke my heart.
"Baby, what's wrong?" He didn't move
from where he stood outside the car on the driver's side. My keys
were in his hand, his knuckles white from the grip he had on
them.
I shook my head. I had to pretend
nothing was wrong, or that something else -- something that would
end our relationship -- was wrong. Right, I would have to tell him
I had found someone else or just stopped loving him.
"Get in the car."
He didn't quite growl the words at me,
but I knew it was an order. I slid into the passenger seat and
directed my gaze out the window. He got in, jabbed the keys in the
ignition then tried to cover one of my hands with his.
I pulled away. If I let him touch me,
I was lost. I would ask him about Pamela, probably beg him to tell
me it was all a lie and believe every last word.
"Cece, whatever has happened, just
tell me." His hand landed lightly on my shoulder, just the
fingertips making any contact.
I flinched, my skin recoiling with the
heartbreak that tightened my chest.
"Did that boy hurt you? Did he say
or…"
His voice strangled on whatever he'd
been ready to add. It took me a few seconds to realize he was
talking about Harold and worried that something had gone horribly
wrong on my date last night.
"No." I turned my head and looked at
the key in the ignition so I wouldn't have to look at Aiden. He had
no right to be concerned over what was wrong with me, not when he
was the one hurting me. My mouth screwed tight, the accusation of
his love affair with a married woman trying to batter its way past
my lips.
I jabbed a finger in the direction of
the steering column. "Are you going to drive or should
I?"
Without another word, he started the
car and pulled away from my building. He had picked a discreet
hotel some thirty minutes away, the room at the far end and
invisible to the nearby roads. Before the phone call from daddy,
the location would have been perfect. Now it just sank the knife in
my heart another inch deeper.
Aiden put the car in park and yanked
the keys from the ignition, speaking for the first time since we
pulled away from my dorm building. "You're not leaving without
talking to me."
He got out of the car, taking my keys
with him into the hotel room. He left the room's door open as a
silent command for me to follow. I waited a good ten minutes,
telling myself he would get tired and bring me my keys.
Except there's no one I know who is
more obstinate than Aiden. Before, that stubborn streak had been a
positive quality. It got him out of the trailer park, into college
and an ownership interest in my dad's shop. It grew the shop's
reach, taking the business from a regional reputation to a national
one.
Sitting in the car, waiting for him to
cave first, it meant I would have to give him another opportunity
to walk all over my heart if I wanted my keys back. I got out, feet
dragging, and entered the room.
I stopped just inside and left the
door open.
Aiden stood in front of the
quiet."
********************
Another hour and a half passed before
Aiden's arrival. My brain spent the whole time walking circles,
crossing over the same questions with no answers. Could Pamela be
lying? Why would anyone lie about adultery, especially in a smaller
town like ours?
What if she was only lying about them
having sex after my weekend with Aiden? Could she just be doing
this because he told her it was over? Still, that meant he had sex
with a married woman who was an employee, and that wasn't the Aiden
I knew.
By the time he arrived, I could barely
walk. I had a boulder, sharp and heavy, in my stomach and another
in my throat. I hadn't cried yet, but that was only a matter of
time. I was still too frozen to cry. When I thawed, there would be
a flood.
I crossed the lawn to where Aiden
waited next to my parked car. I kept my eyes on the ground, trying
to figure out how to keep my mouth shut so I wouldn't break the
promise I had made to my father.
When I finally looked up, the sight of
Aiden broke my heart.
"Baby, what's wrong?" He didn't move
from where he stood outside the car on the driver's side. My keys
were in his hand, his knuckles white from the grip he had on
them.
I shook my head. I had to pretend
nothing was wrong, or that something else -- something that would
end our relationship -- was wrong. Right, I would have to tell him
I had found someone else or just stopped loving him.
"Get in the car."
He didn't quite growl the words at me,
but I knew it was an order. I slid into the passenger seat and
directed my gaze out the window. He got in, jabbed the keys in the
ignition then tried to cover one of my hands with his.
I pulled away. If I let him touch me,
I was lost. I would ask him about Pamela, probably beg him to tell
me it was all a lie and believe every last word.
"Cece, whatever has happened, just
tell me." His hand landed lightly on my shoulder, just the
fingertips making any contact.
I flinched, my skin recoiling with the
heartbreak that tightened my chest.
"Did that boy hurt you? Did he say
or…"
His voice strangled on whatever he'd
been ready to add. It took me a few seconds to realize he was
talking about Harold and worried that something had gone horribly
wrong on my date last night.
"No." I turned my head and looked at
the key in the ignition so I wouldn't have to look at Aiden. He had
no right to be concerned over what was wrong with me, not when he
was the one hurting me. My mouth screwed tight, the accusation of
his love affair with a married woman trying to batter its way past
my lips.
I jabbed a finger in the direction of
the steering column. "Are you going to drive or should
I?"
Without another word, he started the
car and pulled away from my building. He had picked a discreet
hotel some thirty minutes away, the room at the far end and
invisible to the nearby roads. Before the phone call from daddy,
the location would have been perfect. Now it just sank the knife in
my heart another inch deeper.
Aiden put the car in park and yanked
the keys from the ignition, speaking for the first time since we
pulled away from my dorm building. "You're not leaving without
talking to me."
He got out of the car, taking my keys
with him into the hotel room. He left the room's door open as a
silent command for me to follow. I waited a good ten minutes,
telling myself he would get tired and bring me my keys.
Except there's no one I know who is
more obstinate than Aiden. Before, that stubborn streak had been a
positive quality. It got him out of the trailer park, into college
and an ownership interest in my dad's shop. It grew the shop's
reach, taking the business from a regional reputation to a national
one.
Sitting in the car, waiting for him to
cave first, it meant I would have to give him another opportunity
to walk all over my heart if I wanted my keys back. I got out, feet
dragging, and entered the room.
I stopped just inside and left the
door open.
Aiden stood in front of the
Similar Books
